Norway (Tromsø) - Dec 2019

1 fleece + 2 ultra light-downs + 1 shell, and here I go again! The final trip for 2019 was somehow an addition to my priority list but unexpectedly I have made it to Tromsø and delightfully checked-off 5 items from my bucket list!

Day 1 - 13.12.2019

This journey has been planned together with 3 mates (2 Singaporeans + another Malaysian residing in Finland). Though the transit has been a long 4 hours wait in Stockholm, however we enjoyed our typical asian breakfast (bak kua with bread) and some shopping at the airport. Arriving Tromsø at 2pm, we quickly discovered that Uber or Bolt are not available but there is a bus conveniently sending us to the city center with a reasonable price. After checking-in to the Scandic Hotel, we walk around the town looking for dinner. The day without sunlight confuses us with the time but created the best ambience for Christmas. We were excited to find a small Thai Store occupying a corner of the grocery shop, hence decided to have our first meal there and I managed to enjoy the Red Curry Duck with Rice.

Day 2 - 14.12.2019

Having booked a few tours for our trip, we started with the 5 hours Polar Fjord Cruise on the next morning. This trip was way above my expectations. The crews were fun and knowledgeable, and we met many interesting people internationally on board. Tromsø is surprisingly not as cold as I initially thought. Thanks to the warming effect of the gulf stream bringing some heat to the coast. Fishing is not often my recreational preference, however after that brisk grip on the fishing pole, looks like I am going to book myself some fishing trips back in Finland. The freshly caught fish was soon made into a delicious pot of soup which everyone enjoyed very much in the cold breeze.

After disembarking from the boat, we still have a few hours to stroll around town before the aurora hunting trip begins. Over the course of 6 hours, we have seen more than 30 shooting stars while waiting for the northern light. I could finally appreciate how romantic it could be to watch the meteor rain with the loved ones like many people have wished for. I have made just one single wish to the many shooting stars, wondering if my dream will eventually come true (fingers crossed!). As expected, we were starving after the tour when we return to the hotel at 1.30am. Thanks to the Singaporeans who carried 12 different flavoured cup noodles to spare us from hunger.

Day 3 - 15.12.2019

Ensuring some sufficient rests and after recovering from the late night trip, I am getting excited with the next tour in our agenda - the Husky Dog Sledding Self-Drive Adventure. Arriving at the farm, we were welcomed by the loud howling of the tail-wagging friends. Though the huskies doesn’t look exactly like what we often seen on the TV, however they were lovely and absolutely adorable. They are well-trained, obedient and love running in the snow. The sledding experience was so much easier than I originally thought. The guide has explained it so well that we were working as a team with the huskies therefore when going up the slope, we should help them by running and pushing the sled. While going around the wilderness, I noticed that the doggies keep turning back and looked at me as if they are telling me “hey human, move!”. I thought I have been overthinking and seeing illusions, but those huskies did actually turn over and stare at me whenever I try to slow them down while expressing their distress for not letting them to run as fast and as freely. This fact was eventually confirmed by the guide and looks like I am not the only one that has been stared at…lol. After the sledding experience, we get to enjoy a cup of hot beverage and the delicious cake. We were given the chance to hug and play with the huskies before heading back to the town.

Tasting the whale steak has been on my bucket list since 4 years ago when a friend of mine tasted it in Iceland and surprised me with the fact that whales can be eaten. And finally I have the chance to try it by myself. The texture is like any other red meat while having its unique flavor. Going along with a glass of  the Mack Artic beer makes this dinner close to perfect.

Day 4 - 16.12.2019

A visit to the cold and snowy country wasn’t considered complete without a visit to an icy site, and as a result the Ice Dome is where we plan to discover today. After a long 1.5 hours bus ride, we finally arrived at the Ice Dome. We get to admire many wonderful sculptures and having the chance to taste the juice or alcohol from the slippery and melting ice glasses. To me my favorite walrus sculpture is still the most adorable piece of art. 

Getting myself an Iphone 11pro intentionally for this trip ends up with both surprises and disappointments. The camera was beyond my expectation and it could even capture pictures of the sky filled with stars. However I did not get myself the perfect picture that I wanted while taking perfect pictures for my friends instead. This second aurora attempt wasn’t lucky though. Nothing has been sported due to the low cloud and snowy weather. Nonetheless we have had fun building our “tripod” and snowman while waiting for the sky to clear. Looks like I should make a visit to Rovaniemi and try my luck to see if I would have the chance to witness some stronger aurora.

Day 5 - 17.12.2019

We have spent the last day of our trip in town visiting some famous touristy places such as the Arctic Cathedral and Fjellheisen. We did not enter the cathedral nor took the cable car to the top of mountain Floya though.

Having the Norwegian Lutefisk as dinner ends the trip perfectly. The texture of the stockfish was great and definitely tasty to mix with the various side dishes.

Throughout the trip there were lame jokes, snow fights and funny picture sessions. Though the trip has cost me a fortune, but I was glad to be part of it. This is also my first time having 4 burgers from Burger King within a week! Guess I will be dodging away from the store at least for some time thereafter.

人生之无奈 (摘取于网络一篇很有意思的文章)

不是每個相愛的人都有再一起的機會，但這樣的感情卻可能昇華成超友誼，讓彼此繼續在身邊陪伴，雖然不能成為戀人，卻能成為最特別的人。

羊說：我愛你。虎說：你走開！
羊流下一滴淚走了，
誰也沒有看到羊走後，虎也流下一滴淚，
其實有一種愛叫放棄，
數年後，羊和虎都老了！
他們還是一個人。
羊和虎做不成夫妻，卻做了個特別的愛人！
在羊知道自己的生命就要結束的那刻，
他又去找了虎，躺在虎的懷裡睡著了，
沒有人看見虎流了第二滴淚，
原來有一種愛叫陪伴！


羊見虎流下了眼淚，
雙手抱住虎，低下頭來問虎，
為何至今還是一個人？
虎回答：有一種愛叫做等待。
虎又問羊：為何回來找我？
羊說：有一種愛叫做想念。


虎又問：你為何還是一個人。
羊說：還有一種愛叫做堅持。


虎苦苦等待著羊就要餓死了
羊要虎把它吃掉，虎不吃，
羊說，你吃掉我才能繼續活下去！
原來有一種愛叫做付出！


朋友以上，戀人未滿，那個他，有時候比家人還親
兩個可能彼此相愛、喜歡的人，彼此不能成為名義上的夫妻，
或是公眾面前的男女朋友，只能做個特別的朋友⋯⋯

也許是為顧及家人意見，不能歸位。
也許是為了自己的前程，不能承諾。
也許是相遇太晚，彼此身邊已經有了另一個人。


不過即使沒在一起，彼此仍能找到踏實的感覺，
仍然保持不隸屬任何一種感情關係。
但是彼此心底清楚，
對這個人你比朋友和家人還多了一份關心。
因為有了彼此，心裡總是被幸福塞的滿滿的⋯⋯
即使不能名正言順的牽著手逛街，
但還是可以做無話不談的朋友。
彼此有喜歡的人，口頭上說不吃醋，
心裡卻會覺得疼⋯⋯
當對方遇到困難時，會盡全力伸出援助之手
不會計較誰欠了誰。
對方生病了，會繳盡腦汁找藥方，
恨不得變成護士，陪伴在身旁⋯⋯


每個人這輩子，心中都有過這麼一個特別的朋友，很矛盾的行為。


一開始可能不甘心只做朋友，
但久了，突然發現這樣最好。
寧願這樣關心對方的心情，
總好過彼此生活在一起受傷害⋯⋯


很多的感情，都敗在了現實的面前。
友情可以演變成為愛情，愛情最終進化成為親情，
彼此就將友情直接進步到親情，人生不過短短幾十年⋯⋯
能牽手的時候，請別只是肩並肩，
能擁抱的時候，請別只是手牽手，
能在一起的時候，請別輕易分開！


有種友誼不低於愛情，不叫曖昧，叫藍顏。
你們可能互有好感，但是最後成為了朋友，
也許是因為太熟悉了，
也許為了自己的前程，他沒有要你等他。
相遇太早，還不懂得珍惜對方。
而你們相遇太晚，身邊已經有了另一個人。
你回頭太遲，對方已不再等待。
也許你們彼此在捉摸對方的心，
而遲遲無法跨出界線。
不過即使你們沒在一起，你們還是保持了朋友的關係。
但是你們心底清楚，對這個人，你比朋友還多了一份關心，
他有喜歡的人，你口頭上會幫他追，
心裡卻不是很清楚你是不是真的希望他追到。
他遇到困難時，你會盡你所能的幫他，
不會計較誰又欠了誰。
男女朋友吃醋了，你會安撫他們說你和他只是朋友，
但你心中會有那麼一絲的不確定。


每個人這輩子，心中都有過這麼一個特別的朋友，
比朋友多了一份親近，比戀人少了一份愛情，
擔心捅破了那層紙，你們會失去對方，
你寧願做他的朋友，彼此不會吃醋，才可以真的無所不談。
不成男女朋友，當他那個特別的朋友，有什麼不好呢？
有這樣一個人我很喜歡卻不忍動情~~
因為我知道如果我們成為男女朋友就不能像現在這樣無所顧忌的無話不談 ，
我會更在乎他對自己的看法
因為我知道如果我們成為男女朋友就會要求對方更多，
想占為己有、會吃醋、會吵架⋯⋯
到最後也許會分手，所以這樣最好⋯⋯
很多的感情，都因為一廂情願，最後連朋友都當不成了，
常常覺得惋惜，可惜一些本來很好的友情
最後卻因為對方的一句喜歡你，
如果你沒有反應，這一段友情似乎也難以維持下去，
這也難怪有些人會因此不肯踏出這一步。
因為這就像是一場賭注，表白了之後不是成了男女朋友，
要不就連朋友都當不成了。
有些事不是你能預料的，或許對方不在意，
你們還可以是朋友，但卻已經不如從前了⋯⋯

Czech Republic (Prague) - Oct 2019

Ehem… I now proudly present the “Why You Again!” short trip to Prague! This should have been one of the loner trip and a birthday break for myself, but ended up travelling in dual since a friend of mine decided to tagged along to add more fun to the journey. 

My partner in crime has just paid me a short weekend visit in July for 3 days and behold, this is a list of what we had: fresh oysters and caviar at Finlandia Caviar Shop & Restaurant, Japanese Buffet at Itsudemo, Middle Eastern and North African brunch at Sandro, fancy dinner at Farang and the steak at Dockyard Restaurant. We even paid a visit to the Linnanmäki Amusement Park and have had a lot of fun. We have tried the new Taiga Roller Coaster and the funniest part is that after we got on and I wanted to exchange my claw-clip with her rubber band, the roller coaster train started to move and both of us could only stare at each other while exclaming “too late!” and followed by some screams. Therefore this trip has been honorably labelled “损了很多”.

After our summer adventures, I would logically presume that she would not be interested to travel with me again just after 2.5 months, but I was utterly wrong because after she discovered my plan to Prague, she immediately shows her interest and booked herself a ticket from London to Prague soon after. I should not have underestimated my co-conspirator after knowing her for many years.

Day 1 - 05.10.2019 (Saturday)

Our arrival time was just 20 minutes apart, and we happily meet and hugged each other at the arrival hall. Our first sights landed simultaneously on KFC while our stomachs started to drool, but we managed to appease our hunger and kept this special meal for the night in town.

Since most of the downtown hotels were fully booked by the time she acquired her flight ticket, I managed to ask the hotel for an additional headcount to my pre-reserved room. And with a surcharge of approximately €20, we both happily checked-in to our room and relax before heading out to explore the old town. The location of Hotel Liliova Prague Old Town was excellent and literally just a street across the Charles Bridge. We were both stunned looking at the crowd in the old town and there were groups of tourists occupying the bridge. Since it has been raining, everyone has their umbrellas up which make each and every step of our move difficult. Since the rain doesn’t seem to pause so soon, we followed some online guidance and ended up in a classy restaurant. Kampa Park offers one of the best views to the diners overlooking the Charles Bridge, however with the price of €70 each, we were not entirely impressed as we were expecting some better tastes on the meal. 

Being a constant lover of mysterious and obscure tales, the Museum of Alchemists and Magicians of Old Prague with the Alchemical Circle is not something I want to miss. The ticket of 620Kč also includes a visit to the Prague Ghosts Legends Museum. Though nothing has been considered scary and frightening, but I am still excited to tour around.

Day 2 - 06.10.2019 (Sunday)

The Sedlec Ossuary has been on my bucket list for many years, and finally I have the chance to visit this chapel and witness the enormous chandelier of bones with my own eyes. This church of bones was way smaller than I would imagine, but it is definitely worth a visit. The day tour took us around Kutná Hora and introduces to us many amazing places.

Arriving back in the old town, we decided to have some local Czech cuisine and Mincovna seems to be the best option. They offer tasty local delicacies with reasonable prices. We wander on Charles Bridge for a long time until a vietnamese came bothering us, and as a result we left the bridge and decided to come back again during midnight when there will be less visitors and that would be a perfect time for photography. The midnight walk rewarded us with perfect pictures without many passerby, and I could even make my wishes at the Charles Bridge as freely as I want without any disturbances.

Cannabis products seem to be quite famous there, and I took the opportunity to try a pack of the biscuit but nah…I think the amount is just too mild that I don’t feel any different...lol.

Day 3 - 07.10.2019 (Monday)

Time flies and it is almost the moment for us to wave goodbye. We fully utilizes the morning hours and make our last minute souvenir shopping before we parted at the hotel and booking ourselves different rides heading to different places.

The souvenirs I have gotten myself this time was rather different, I have bought some books, glass sculpture and paintings in addition to the pins, keychains and fridge magnets. With all the jokes and laughters that we had, I am looking forward to the “Why You Again! Part II”.

谁说人生不是一场游戏？

祝我生日快乐！欢迎在 XX 年前参与银河系的地球之生存游戏！

游戏规则: 请在限定的时间内尽量过关升级，要不然你将会被无情的淘汰。每一个关卡都有着不一样的挑战 (简单来说就是会尽量置你于死地)。你必须努力收集金币以便购买所需要的物品来帮助你过关胜利。

梦如人生，人生如梦 5

人生百态，看尽了，也就缘尽了。

当活着只不过是一种勉强的存在，何去何从，都无所谓了。一切的梦想，付出，承诺，都会随风而去，毕竟渺小的自己，可有可无。

寻之.空 16

你认识我吗？可否介绍一番也让我认识一下。谢谢。

倒数

Switzerland + Liechtenstein - June 2018

Finally, here comes the impromptu A&A 4D3N girls-trip for 2018. While trying to quest for a center meeting point in between London and Helsinki, we have finally decided that this tiny country of Liechtenstein is attractive enough for us to spend a long weekend. Due to the size of this country and without any airport, we have to travel to the nearest one in Switzerland, which is in Zurich. Despite the high cost of the flight and accommodation, we proceeded with the meet-up plan anticipating some fun moments even though the trip has almost turn out to be a pipe dream due to the recent stressed-fracture I suffered on my knee which very much impaired my movements on a temporary basis.

15.06.2018 (Friday) 

We were lucky to have our arrival hour almost close to each other, and we both managed to arrive at the same time at the Flughafen Zurich Airport. To our surprise, we fail to bump into each other despite that both of us firmly claimed to be standing at the Arrival Gate 1 and was in-front of the Information Center (but apparently there are 2 identical arrival hall at different floor levels). We begin our trip by picking up our rental car - the brand new white Fiat Tipo Hatchback (instead of the VW Polo we booked) and drove all the way to Lake Walensee. We were both starving and decided to stop-by one of the rest station along the motorway to have our late lunch. The choices we were offered was surprisingly above expectation, and this is where we enjoyed our first Rösti and some fried mushrooms. Nonetheless the insipid and dense textured cheesecake has not been one of my favourite.

Driving in a foreign country might not be as easy, especially when the signs wasn’t displayed in English nor are they the same compared to the home country. The all-time driving failure includes:

1. Walking to the right side of the car due to the familiar left-hand traffics that I am used to for the past decade.

2. Almost turning to the left while getting into the roundabout.

3. Constantly stuck and wondering which is the correct traffic direction.

4. Slapping my hand against the car door thinking that the gearbox is on my left.

We spent our first night in Zentrum Neu-Schönstatt, a monastery-styled hotel run by 29 nuns. The rooms were not equipped with TV but comes rather with a bible, a cross on the wall and a bottle of holy water instead. But seriously, who cares when you have the best view of Lake Walensee just outside your windows!

After spending some relaxing hours in the room, we headed out to explore the surroundings. We took a stroll to captured the best view of Lake Walensee from the top of the mountain. But we arrived too late and missed the chance for a cable car ride. The dusk came soon and we decided to have the famous Swiss Cheese Fondue for our dinner hence driving all the way to Bad Ragaz looking for the highly recommended Restaurant Zollstube. The waitresses were offering us the best smile, foods and services. We ordered the YingYang pot with both the Älpler Fondü (mushroom) + Heidi’s Fondü (Beef), where a full basket of bread cubes and a fair portion of potatoes were served together. We walloped almost everything on the table to the extent that the waitress was so surprised and told us that not many customer has done this far to finish the servings and we must have been starving (opps…).

16.06.2018 (Saturday)

The church bell which started at 6.00am has somehow awaken us from our beautiful dreams. The breakfast was pretty simple and basic but yet we find it tasty and delicious. The nun tried to greet every table personally but since neither of us speaks German, she politely rendered a sentence and a kind guest besides our table has helped to translate it and conveying the wish for us to have a nice day. After returning from breakfast, we noticed a note on our doorpost reminding that we have to check-out on time by 10.00am (despite that the official check-in was after 2.00pm).

Since we have nowhere to linger, we drove to Balzers and visited the Burg Gutenberg. This castle wasn’t principally made as a tourist attraction, hence we were only able to admire the building from the outer garden. The way up along the vineyard offers us a panoramic view of the city, however the narrow path often forces us to the edge of the road whenever there are vehicles coming by.

Finally we were able to unload our luggage and we fell in love immediately with the Airbnb villa we have rented. The house was situated at a high latitude and what more could you ask for when you could stay in a cozy cabin, facing a spectacular view of greens and mountains, with the private pool, garden and benches freely accessible 24/7. The friendly host with an artistic talent has decorated the house exquisitely.

When two gluttons get together, it is natural that food becomes the main subject of all times. Despite the fact that we just had a full pot of Cheese Fondue the night before, we were again craving for the cheesy meal during the lunch hour. We were delighted to find a hotel restaurant nearby that serve our appetite. The restaurant was build right on-top of the hill and posted us the absolute challenge to drive the swirl and narrow path all the way up. Most of the roads come with uncountable twists and turns, and some two-way streets were only enough for one car to get through at a time. But looks like there is no obstacle that could prevent or deter us from getting the food we wanted or could beat our unquenchable desires, and we ultimately devoured another pot of cheese.

Being a Catholic and religious country, it was literally challenging as we struggled to find restaurants or convenient stores open after 7pm on Saturday. Not left with many choices, we went for the simplest deal – McDonald with the thought of enjoying the sunset beside the pool in our holiday villa. While on our way back, we unintentionally spotted the wooden bridge which connects both the countries and without a second thought, we stopped by for an hour of crazy + fun photoshoots before we call it a day.

17.06.2018 (Sunday)

It was a cloudy morning but we were determined to drag ourselves up to the top of Malbun. It was my first time taking the chairlift and I am lucky enough to not have suffered from acrophobia since that height could be alarming for some individuals. We were both like the curious and laughable tourist staring at the stairlift until the kind attendant offered us a hand to get on to it (he might have been silently ROFL…). After a short stroll, we sat down in the restaurant and enjoyed our bucolic lunch showered by a bit of sunshine (but it was still freezing after all!) before we depart.

We have had a long conversation with our Airbnb host that afternoon, where she showed us many of her artworks including plants, paintings and sculptures. The dialogue went on to discuss the stand points and perspectives of living in the different era. She was born in the 1950s very much admiring the modern society with gender equality, while we on the other hand starting to miss some of the old school lifestyle when not everything has been invaded by technology. Nonetheless, she is now living an unwind life doing what she likes – Taichi, clay sculpturing, painting and gardening rather than sparring in a big organization dealings with all sorts of hypocrites trying to strive to the top of the hierarchy.

After having the 2 full cheesy meals and the McD, we started to crave for some savoury Asian cuisine. It was fortunate that we found a Thai restaurant serving the tomyam, somtam and stir-fried beef, even though these dishes were not spicy enough for us but… no complaints!

18.06.2018 (Monday)

Switzerland is a country where you would definitely love to visit more than once in a lifetime. The incredible scenery, the welcoming folks and the convenient of getting around will certainly entice you to return once more. After accomplishing our last mission of groceries shopping (cheese, chocolate and…  corned beef?!), we took a quick lunch before finding for our way to the airport.

Both experiences and conveniences come with a cost, and looks like we have learned them the semi-hard way. Despite all the fun and luxury we enjoyed, there are still countless of hiccups along our journey that eventually makes our heart sank. As usual, life isn’t smooth and many lessons we have learned in this trip:

1. We only noticed that we were not permitted to enter Liechtenstein with our rented vehicle after we have spent our 2 days in that “forbidden” country. (Facepalm…waiting for the issuance of the violation ticket)

2. The manual car with the reverse gear at the opposite end of the direction causes some confusion whereby a slight miss resulted to a damage on the hood.

3. One of the A had a flight delay and a late arrival back to Helsinki, and another A misses her flight due to the long queue at the immigration.

4. Speed limit certainly requires a full attention especially when it is below 50kmph, as a ticket + admin fee would cost around €100.

Therefore:

- Always scrutinize in detail the car rental agreement and ensure that a proper copy of the contract has been received and well kept.

- Purchasing the excess protection is always a good idea as you could never anticipate what is going to happen along the journey.

- If you are coming from another country, try to do some research online and study the meaning of each road sign as different country do have them uniquely displayed.

- Always pay attention to the speed limit.

It’s been quite a while since I have had the last long conversation with a close friend without the disruption of the phone and the internet. Undeniably, the technology of smart phones and apps has somehow killed the quality conversation between many people. One of the regret is that we weren’t able to locate any restaurant serving the chocolate fondue within the radar. Alright, I have now met Ms.A in both Asia and Europe this year, but we shall see each other again before wrapping up 2018 in the third continent, stay tuned!